3 Holiday Manicure Ideas for Nail-Art Newbies and Beyond

It's almost mid-December, which means we've all been listening to Michael Bublé's Christmas album and watching Love Actually on repeat for weeks now. (No? Just me?) To really get in the holiday spirit, we had the nail artists at Los Angeles's MARS the Salon to create festive nail-art masterpieces of varying degrees of difficulty just for us.

Advanced: The Full-on Mrs. Claus (above)

Admit it: If you were Santa's wife, this is what your nails would look like—year round. Here's how to do it. Start with a clear basecoat, then layer a coat of red polish on your thumbs, middle, and pinky fingers (we like Tenoverten nail polish in Carmine). Using a skinny metal nail-art tool, like the one found in the Nordstrom Nail Art Tool Set, draw small snowflakes on your middle fingers, pinkies, and thumbs with opaque white polish (like Chanel Le Vernis in Eastern Light). Using a fine nail brush (also found in the same tool set), paint the outline of the Christmas tree on your ring fingers, leaving the background clear. (For a true Evergreen shade, we like Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Rampage.) Fill the rest of the tree in with the brush and allow to dry before adding ornaments with the metal dotting tool. Using a similar technique and the same white polish, paint a snowman by creating two white circles and adding wintry accessories with the dotting tool. Finish with a supershiny topcoat.

Intermediate: Wrapping-Paper Nails

For this look, paint nails with bases of white, red, and silver glitter. Then, using the nail-art tool, draw white stars over the red polish and red polka dots over the white polish. Use a skinny brush to draw a thin line of silver down the middle of each nail for a ribbon-like effect. The final step? You guessed it—topcoat.

Beginner: Elegantly Festive

Looking to get in the holiday spirit without going overtly Christmasy? This two-tone look is a more sophisticated option. To get it, apply burgundy nail polish to every other nail (we like Essie Nail Polish in Recessionista). Then coat the alternate nails in a glittery silver polish like Nails Inc. nail polish in Electric Avenue. Let it dry completely before painting a thick stripe of the burgundy across the top of each silver-coated nail. Finish with topcoat.